news

Calls for Michael Moore’s ‘anti-electric car’ documentary to be banned

Environmental activists have accused the Oscar-winner's latest effort of spreading 'misinformation'.


A new documentary from Hollywood filmmaker Michael Moore has caused controversy over its alleged criticism of electric cars, prompting environmentalists to call for the film to be pulled from distribution.

Planet of the Humanswhich was executive produced by Moore and written and directed by Jeff Gibbs, premiered on YouTube on April 21 and immediately sparked a social media debate over its inherent suggestion that electric cars aren't as emissions-free as many may have hoped.

In an interview with Reuters, Moore said that, before making the film, he thought electric cars were a "good idea", "but I didn’t really think about where is the electricity coming from?" he added.

According to a review from The Hollywood Reporter, the documentary essentially tells audiences: "You may feel good about yourself if you drive an electric car, but don't forget that it's recharged by energy from a power company that uses coal or natural gas. And that the battery was manufactured by a company using fossil fuels."

These claims have been labelled "unsubstantiated" and described as an "attack" on renewable energy by activists who have devoted their time to pushing for a move away from fossil fuels.

Led by documentary filmmaker and environmentalist Josh Fox, a coalition of concerned scientists and activists co-signed a letter to Films For Action, the distributor of Planet of the Humans, demanding it be "retracted by its creators and distributors and an apology rendered for its misleading content".

Films For Action responded by removing the film from its website and issuing an apology, admitting: "When Planet of the Humans first came out, we added it to the site before watching it because we trusted Michael Moore's track record of releasing quality films that are factually accurate."

However, the company then reinstated the film to its website, issuing a statement that read:  "Ultimately, we decided to put it back up because we believe media literacy, critique and debate is the best solution to misinformation."

The film also still remains live and viewable on YouTube.

In one particularly contentious scene from the documentary, captured at the 2010 launch of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, General Motors spokesperson Kristin Zimmerman is filmed admitting there's "a bit of coal" used in charging the Volt.

Shortly after, the general manager of a local utility company confirms: "It would be charging off our grid, which is about 95% coal."

Journalist Cathy Cowan Becker, Research Fellow at the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity, called this footage "dated" in an article for Medium.

"The main argument is that the electricity being stored by the vehicle’s battery was generated by fossil fuels, so it must be pointless to drive an EV, right?" Becker wrote.

"Wrong again, on two counts. First, even if the energy the EV is using was generated by coal, it is still cleaner to drive an electric vehicle. The Union of Concerned Scientists has crunched these numbers...

"Second, the grid itself is getting cleaner. Coal plants are closing, and more renewable energy is going onto the grid."

The debate around the green credentials of electric cars has been ongoing, with detractors suggesting they are a far-from-perfect solution given they require coal-powered energy to charge and are constructed from base metals, which require resource-heavy mining methods to extract.

Recently, however, new research pointed to deep sea mining of these metals as the solution to the latter, while auto industry figures argue a greater focus on renewable energy sources has the potential to further reduce emissions over time.

"[Electric vehicles are] a journey of good, better, best," Behyad Jafari, CEO of Australia's Electric Vehicle Council, has previously told CarAdvice. "You'll hear detractors saying there are still emissions associated with EVs, but compared to what we have today with ICEs [internal combustion engines], we'll still be in a better position."

Susannah Guthrie

Susannah Guthrie has been a journalist for over a decade, covering everything from world news to fashion, entertainment, health and now cars. Having previously worked across titles like The New Daily, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, People Magazine and Cosmopolitan, Susannah now relishes testing family cars with the help of her husband and two-year-old son.

Read more about Susannah GuthrieLinkIcon
Chat with us!







Chat with Agent